Former Team Owner Scott Passes Away

Harry Scott Jr., a championship team owner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series as well as a owner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series, died Wednesday.

A statement from the family of Harry Scott Jr.: “We are shocked and saddened to confirm that Harry Scott, Jr., age 51, passed away yesterday, August 2, 2017. Harry will be remembered as a loving family man and successful business owner. We ask that everyone please keep Harry’s smile, generosity and essential kindness in your thoughts and prayers. Details about funeral services will be announced when they are finalized.”

Scott began his NASCAR efforts as co-owner of Turner Scott Motorsports with fellow team owner Steve Turner in 2013. The group fielded entries in the Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series. Later that season, Scott agreed to purchase the assets for Phoenix Racing, a single-car entity competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett and Clint Bowyer were among the competitors who drove for the premier series team, renamed HScott Motorsports, from 2014-16.

Turner Scott Motorsports won its first NASCAR championship in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013 with Dylan Kwasniewski. Justin Haley (2016), William Byron (‘15) and Ben Rhodes (’14) won K&N Pro Series East championships for the HScott/Marks organization. The organizations also fielded race winning cars for Scott Heckert, Brandon Jones, Rico Abreu and Tyler Dippel -- winning 24 races between 2013-16.

The organization, located for much of its brief history in Spartanburg, South Carolina, earned no wins and no top-five finishes in 189 career Cup starts. It had affiliations with Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing at different points of its existence, from which it obtained vehicles as well as technical support.

Scott closed the operation, which had grown to field two full-time entries, at the end of ’16 due to a lack of funding and driver availability. Driver Michael Annett departed for JR Motorsports, where he currently drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for that team in the XFINITY Series. Teammate Clint Bowyer had agreed to move to Stewart-Haas Racing, replacing three-time champion Tony Stewart in that organization’s No. 14 Ford.

“Over the past several months, I considered a number of options for moving forward with the team,” Scott said at the time. “Regrettably there are not viable sponsor/driver options immediately available to allow the team to participate in 2017.”

At one time, Scott had ownership ties to eight teams competing in NASCAR — in addition to his two Monster Energy Series teams, he also co-owned one XFINITY Series team in collaboration with fellow owner Chip Ganassi and five NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams with co-owner Justin Marks.

Marks issued a statement on Twitter as well as tweeted a photo of the two together.